07.04.2026 / Chinese car insurance: what has changed over 4 years

Since 2022, a large number of new Chinese brands have entered the Russian market. Initially, working with Chinese cars was accompanied by many difficulties: high repair costs, problems with the supply of spare parts, and the lack of sufficient data to assess risks. However, over the years, a number of problems have been solved or partially ironed out.

Has the confidence of insurance companies in Chinese cars increased, what difficulties have been overcome, and what else needs attention? The marketing agency NAPI discussed these issues with Elena Khakhulina, Director of the Retail Auto Insurance Department at Zetta Insurance, and Anton Abramov, Head of the Motor Insurance Underwriting Department at Absolut Insurance. 

- Has the confidence of insurance companies in Chinese cars increased and has risk analysis become easier?

Elena Khakhulina: As the Chinese automotive industry continued to expand, statistics and loss settlement practices accumulated. The data available today allows us to assess risks with a sufficient level of accuracy.

Anton Abramov: Today we can talk about trust to Chinese car brands as a fait accompli, at least when it comes to the most popular brands. Frequent updating of the model line-up and endless restyling, certainly, add difficulties to the settlement, but in general, the problem of spare parts availability has been solved.

Elena Khakhulina: A high concentration of electronic assistants and touch panels are, certainly, an important factor in determining the cost of insurance, as this directly affects the convenience of using the car. There is a direct correlation with the accident rate. In a certain sense, Chinese cars have revolutionized car insurance. Previously, the accident rate mostly depended on the driver, his experience and attentiveness, but now the car itself is of serious importance. A higher degree of electronic equipment and the absence of physical buttons forces drivers to take their eyes off the road while driving and turn to a tablet to take basic actions (for example, to change the temperature in the cabin, switch on the radio, etc.), which can lead to road accidents.

Anton Abramov: The saturation level of modern models with electronics and auxiliary systems has certainly become higher. But this is a feature not only of Chinese brands, but also of all modern cars. We treat this as a normal evolutionary process.

- Has the situation with the supply of spare parts for Chinese cars improved? 

Anton Abramov: Mass-produced cars available at such dealerships as Haval, Changan, Geely, and Chery are widespread, and it is easier to find spare parts for them. For rare models, for example, Knewstar, Livan, Bestune, Faw (cars), which were little in use, or for models that are no longer sold in Russia, it may be difficult to find the necessary spare parts. There are also difficulties in finding spare parts for Zeekr and Lixiang electric cars.

- Several Chinese brands and models have already left the Russian market. How will spare parts be supplied for already purchased and operated cars?

Elena Khakhulina: It's not the first time brands have left the Russian market, so the mechanism of operation is already known. There are significantly fewer problems with the supply of spare parts for Chinese cars, since some automakers have their warehouses on the territory of the Russian Federation. Deliveries under the parallel import scheme, direct orders from China, and the use of spare parts and used parts from donor cars are also possible. Problems with delivery terms may occur if non-standard spare parts are damaged, for example, large nodes or rare individual parts. 

- Has the problem been solved caused by the fact that spare parts supplied for repair were from different batches, i. e. they differed in size, quality, etc.?

Elena Khakhulina: The shortage of genuine spare parts remains. There is also a problem with errors in the catalogs of Chinese automakers, due to which the part is selected incorrectly, the ordered spare part does not fit, and you have to start the process all over again.

Anton Abramov: Moreover, we pay attention to analog spare parts: the cheaper the analog, the more likely it is to encounter low-quality spare parts.

- Which internal parts are most often damaged in case of road accidents with Chinese cars? Is it possible to say that more spare parts of Chinese cars are damaged in road accidents than those of traditional European, Japanese, or Korean brands?

Anton Abramov: There is no massive damage to specific internal parts related to Chinese brands. Chinese cars have been available on the Russian market for several years, so most of the "sores have already been cured."

Elena Khakhulina: Damage resistance varies depending on the quality of the material used in the car manufacture, the completeness, the degree of protection of unique engineering solutions, and technical execution. In case of similar road accidents, the number of damaged elements of the Chinese car is comparable to that of other brands, but they are less likely to be repaired, i. e. they need to be replaced more often. 

Anton Abramov: There are rare specimens in which, after hitting the front bumper and bumper booster, both front fenders and the front panel bend and the spars are damaged.

- Previously, programs and catalogs for servicing Chinese cars were only in Chinese. Have they been adapted to the present moment?

Elena Khakhulina: Officially supplied cars began to be provided with a Russified version of the software. Most of cars imported under the parallel import scheme do not even support English software version. There are unofficial agencies on the market offering software flashing services, adding Russian or English. But tampering with the software can result in a complete system lockout and loss of car performance, so it's better not to take any risks.